2014 Ambitions

I know some of you might think this is a little late and overdue... as its April and I'm talking about what i want to achieve in 2014. But I wanted to do a little bit of a 'To Do' list for the next 8 months of 2014, so I can look back and see if I've achieved any of my goals. Some of these have already been achieved or started, but that doesn't mean I don't want to improve, which i hope to do.

♣ Be more adventurous with clothes.

I've been wanting to do this for a loong time, as i practically LIVE in hoodies and leggings, as I prefer looking relaxed. I've never really enjoyed wearing jeans or shorts, but I think if i start, i might train my brain to like the and start wearing different things a bit more. I need to step away from the baggy things, and try wearing a normal shirt instead of a massive hoodie or jersey.

♣Continue with Pilates. 

'Continue' being the key word, as i started but had to stop because i pulled muscles in both my legs and currently can't move, nor do i have a knee because they're that swollen. So maybe in a few days, i can carry on, and become a little more toned and healthy. I've heard great things about Pilates, so I'm excited to see what could happen! (if i stick to it!)

♣Don't worry as much

It might not seem like it but I'm a massive worrier about everything. I can sit up at night worrying about something i said, in case they took it the wrong way. If you do this as well, we need to stop. As I've realized, the things you worry about will NOT worry you in 3 years. We all need to learn how to relax and realize that 99.8% of the problems you're worrying about will be forgotten, or solved, or maybe not even that important. 

♣Smile more.

Sometimes I'm quite a smiley person, but sometimes i can hiss at the sight of sunlight. I'd quite like to be a more cheerful and bubbley person, instead of feeling like a vampire and not wanting to go out in sunlight.

♣Get a hobby

This is something that i need to do, because i don't think reciting the words of Dirty Dancing could be classed as a hobby. I would reallyyy like to start playing volleyball, or maybe start a dance class of some sort... but i can't really see that happening. 

♣Be a bit more healthy

I'm not saying i'm going to cut out all unhealthy food, but i would like to start eating clean to maybe help my skin, and to detox my body. I'd also like to drink quite a lot of water, to. 

♣Stop drinking so much coffee.

At the minute, I'm currently drinking my 4th coffee of the day, and, especially as i have retainers, this is NOT good for my teeth. I think I might substitute this with water, wow, my skin would be as clear as a summers sky!!

So there are 7 things i want to achieve by the time its 2015, and hopefully I'll remember to do a post about them on the last day of 2014 on whether i've achieved them or not. If you have any new years resolutions that you're still following, congratulations! 

TQ xo

10 Beauty Uses for Cotton Buds!

For years, I have been hoarding this massive secret that no one else has ever known before- i have a BIG obsession with cotton buds. Not sure why, but i just find them so useful, because, ya know... you never can tell when you're gonna' need a cotton bud. So I've put together some little hints and tips for all the other cotton buds/q-tip obsessers like me, but for the rest that aren't that weird, I hope this inspires you to buy and try!

1. Fix your eye makeup. If you dab one of these in makeup remover, you can get rid of smudges and uneven cat eyes (I'm fully aware that this is one of the worst things ever) and it's just much more quicker than having to do it all over again.
2. Use them instead of eyeshadow brushes. I'm at least 98.3% sure that buying cotton buds would be alot easier than buying new makeup brushes, then having to buy more when those ones break or get too dirty. I picked up 200 for 59p. That's 400 eyeshadow appliers (if you use both sides) that will last you a whole lot longer, and for cheaper. 
3. Whiten nails. Dip the cotton bud into a solution of one-part hydrogen peroxide and one-part baking soda, and rub onto the nails, and rinse after 3 minutes, and you have nice, clean looking nails!
4. Control your eyebrows! Not everyone has time to pluck their eyebrows in the morning, so if you get a stray hair, just dip into a petroleum jelly and run along the edge of the brows. This may need doing again later in the day, so maybe get a portable pot of cotton buds?... (Do they even exist??? If not, that is my mission. To make a portable pot of cotton buds.)
5. If you're dying hair, and you manage to get in on your forehead or ear or anywhere else, a cotton bud can easily clean it up and go straight in the bin afterwards.
6. Instead of using hands, use one to moisturize your face. This could be a little time consuming if your face isn't the same size as the bud, but its much more hygienic and quite fun:)
7. This is quite a weird one. But if your roots are showing, dip one into eyeshadow that is the same colour as your hair, and apply for a temporary hair dye. 
8. Create fuller lips by dabbing in a shimmering eyeshadow and applying it to the outside of your lips to add volume. 
9. Hide stretchmarks by dipping one in tanning lotion and covering the area.
10. Keep nail polish bottles fresh and clean, by dipping in vegetable oil and applying to the rim of your nail polish to stop it from sealing shut. 

So now I've expressed my love for cotton buds and 10 ways that you too can express your love for cotton buds, i hope you go down to your nearest shop and purchase 3 boxes in a row, just like i did. It gives you a lovely buzz, you should try it!!

TQ xo   

A Voluminous Ponytail | Tutorial

It's nice to add some extra volume to a normal ponytail just to liven it up and give it some texture. Methods used can range from teasing to simply tipping your head upside down, but as you know, some do damage hair more than others. So i thought i would be a good person and do the a tutorial for the 2 examples I've just given, so whether you would rather tease or tip, you can do it your way! Enjoyyyyy.

Teasing

You Will Need:

• A hair brush
• A teasing comb
• Hairspray
• A hair tie
• Hair grips
• Texturising spray (optional)
• A scrunchy or hair bow clip (optional)

1.      Thoroughly brush though your hair so you don't get any nasty tangles and knots. 

2.      Use your finger or the end of a tail comb to separate a part of hair at the top of your head, and lightly spray hairspray at the back of the part.

3.      Use your comb to lightly or roughly tease your hair, depending on how volumized you want your hair to be.

4.      If needed, tease around the sides of your head if you want a more natural style. Brush down all the hair so the teased parts are even and all level with each other.

5.      If needed, you can grip the teased parts down to your head before doing the ponytail so they stay put.

6.      Its now time to gather up all the hair and tie it up! 

7.      Once you have your ponytail, you can pull bits out from the side to frame your face, and pull bits out until you're happy with it. 

8.       Take the pony tail and spray some texturising spray, then scrunch. This will make your hair look more voluminous.

9.      If wanted, add a scrunchy to cover the hair tie or hair grips, or a clip in bow at the base of the hair tie.

ALL DONE:)

Tipping

You Will Need:

• Hair tie
• Hair spray (optional)
• Hair Grips (optional)
• Texturising Spray(optional)
• Accessories (optional)

1.      Brush you hair all out, no tangles or knots.

2.      Tip your head upside down and gather up all your hair into a ponytail. This should naturally give it some volume. 

3.      Bring your head back up and make some adjustments if needed e.g. pulling bits out, gripping bits together.

4.      When you're happy with your pony tail, add hairspray to avoid any fly away's, and if wanted, some accessories like the last style.

If you want to know how to get volume to everyday hair, you can click on a previous case here, and i hope i helped and you enjoyed these tutorials!! Byee!

TQ xo

Simple Vital Vitamin Foaming Cleanser | Review

I currently have an issue, which is that i hardly ever do reviews. I did one on the Collection Concealer which you can find here, but that was mainly me rambling on about the fact that i was nearly labelled a mental person skipping around Boots... but here is a proper review that i hope everyone finds helpful and... enjoyable? (if you find reading reviews about face cleanser enjoyable... whatever tickles your pickle).

I don't expect many readers to own many 'Simple' products, as the name can be seen as cheap, and of course, it isn't the absolute BEST cleanser there is in the world. 

I first heard about this product whilst reading an article on Beautiful Smudges which can be found here (great blog run by a lovely owner). I used to own quite alot of Simple products when I was a tad bit younger, but the name had gone out of fashion since then, and it wasn't as popular as it used to be. So when i found her article, i read that it wasn't the best, but also wasn't the worst, and at a good cost. So i decided to invest (£3.75 in a knock-off Boots shop... bargain!?!). 

As you can see (or can't see because I've just noticed I've cut the top of the photo off- great), the product has a pump instead of a cap, which you pump twice onto the tips of your fingers. It feels quite soft and melty on your face, and as i found out, 2 squirts can go a loooong way.

It says on the packaging added moisturizers as well as 2 vitamins and 3 'skin loving ingredients. Now as anyone knows, products that have the added moisturizer can sometimes make all the difference to whether your skin agrees with what you're using, but as i experienced, i do still need to moisturize after using this, as i found my face was a bit stiff.

Cleaning wise, this product does a fantastic job for me, as now on the school days, i haven't got as much makeup on, so that means not as much to take off. However, if you have quite greasy skin or very greasy T-zones (like me... bit grim, i know) then this product will eliminate the grease immediately and make your face feel fresh and clean. 

It contains Glycerin, which is the added moisture, and chamomile which is to stop/prevent the dryness and itchiness of your face, so really, there are some really good ingredients that could actually help your face, and at £3.75, ill think you agree that it was well worth it.

TQ xo

Back to School Blues

For many people all around the world, tomorrow is the day that the Easter holidays end :(. The routine begins again, along with the sadness of having to wake up early in the mornings, and not having enough time to make yourself look socially acceptable (or is that just me?...) So i thought it would try and make a 'morning help guide' to try and get you awake, refreshed, looking half decent and ready to spend the day learning. So here it is, my 'morning help guide' just for you, enjoy!

Waking up

We know the drill. For me, its half 6- the alarm goes off, i smash my phone against the wall, and pray that today is Saturday and i just forgot to turn off my alarm. But, of course, its a school morning. This is usually the point where millions of people cocoon up into their duvets and possibly weep a little. 

Waking up and feeling groggy is quite common, and lets be honest, no one likes it. So to make your self feel as awake as you possibly can, try these:

• Wash your face as soon as you step foot out of bed. This will help you become a tad more alert and ready.
• Eat a warm breakfast (which i will speak about next)
• Take a shower. Possibly start cold, then get warmer. This will DEFIANTLY work. If you don't have a shower, run yourself a lukewarm/cold bath. Don't make it too hot, otherwise you WILL fall back to sleep:).
• Drink water. It will make you feel hydrated, which means more awake.
• This last one isn't really recommended, but drinking lemon juice will wake up your facial muscles as struggle to swallow making your face look like a scrunched up piece of paper:)

       Breakfast

Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day, so having something that will fill you up until your next break or lunch is very important. 

• Try eating a carb; these are good for keeping you going all day, and taste good too. Porridge is a carb, and is very popular among people who have to keep going all day without food.

• Fruit is also quite a good morning starter. Try experimenting (possibly on a weekend) some of the breakfasts you could have with could have added fruit, or could be eaten with fruit. 
• Eating something heated will warm up your insides. (I'm fully aware of how weird and wacky that sounds, but its true.)
• If you have to eat on the go, toast with a topping of your choice and a banana is always good.

        Hair

If you're a lucky person and you get time to curl or straighten your hair in the morning, then i suppose you don't need to read this step unless you want some no-heat hairstyles, which is what i am going to talk about. Most people don't have time to wack out the straighteners and make their hair look nice, but for some easy ways to quickly throw up your hair or something that you leave in overnight, then click here.

Makeup

I don't care what anyone says here, but wearing tons and tons of makeup for school is wrong. For one, you don't NEED it all, and for two, whats the point? Wearing alot at school will mean that when you go out with friends from school, they won't notice a difference with your face, because they're so used to seeing you with it on. This is all you really need:

• Concealer. You can put this under your eyes with a brush, finger or egg sponge, as long as you remember to blend. No one likes orange stains around your face, do they?
• Mascara. Both of these steps are optional, but give off a polished look.
• A tiny bit of blusher if wanted. This makes you look healthy and radiant. 
• Chap-stick/lip gloss.This is to ensure your lips look moisturized and healthy all through the day.

          Clothes

      

       Here in the UK, schools have uniforms. However most places in the world let their children dress in whatever clothes they like.

• Make sure your clothes aren't too tight or short. Make sure they're 100% appropriate for school.
• Layers! Layering things (especially in Winter) can make your outfit look snazzy and warm at the same time!
• Accessories. This step is also for the UK, as accessories can be anything from a bracelet or necklace, to a funky tie or even trouser braces.
• Make sure your colours don't clash, and also make sure that your outfit actually matches. Try asking your parents or even sending a photo of what you're wearing to one of your friends to see what they think.

Okay so this was my 'morning help guide' for you all, i WILL be doing another post about my bag and what i take to school so i also hope that helps in advance as well. I hope you all had a good holiday and i hope you all did your homework;). 

TQ xo

Pamper Night with Daysie!

Hello you little stunners! I'm currently at Daysie's house down in Nottingham and we've decided we're going to have a little girly sleepover! It's not very often me and Daysie get to see each other in person, so I thought of making a post about this mini occasion, and telling you our pamper night routine! I brought my products, she had hers and we thought we'd combine, so here is our mini pamper night! Enjoy!

(Just a quick note: I forgot to bring my camera to her house which I am totally gutted about because this means I can't take as gooder pictures as I can for you and had to use my mobile, so I apologise but I hope you enjoy none the less!)

• The first step for anything at night would be to tie back your silky locks to make sure no cleanser or moisturizer or face mask can find its way into your hair.

• For a base cleanser, I used the Simple Vital Vitamin Foaming Cleanser. This is a very very recent purchase... like, same day purchase. But I love it anyway. Two squirts of this removes makeup and grease from your face, and leaves it feeling fresh and clean, at a very cheap price tag.

• The next product I used was one of Daysie's, and it's the Clean and Clear Deep Cleansing Lotion, which is fab at getting off all the makeup (especially eye makeup) that the first cleanser may have missed.

• Next was the Soap and Glory Self Heating No Clogs Allowed face mask, that we both left on for around 15-20 minutes (It was absolute blissss)

• I next used the Soap and Glory Dr Spot cream around my blemishes and little spots and pimples that may have skipped onto my face, and let it soak in until there was nothing left. Beware-this can burn your skin if too much is applied, so don't be too generous.

• Next was the Soap and Glory (are we seeing a theme here?) Puffy Eye cream which I dabbed under my eyes which is meant to relive puffiness and dark circles, I'm yet to see a difference but not done using it just yet :D (forgot to take a picture of this!! Poop!!)
• The last facial product was No.7 Beautiful Skin moisturiser, which you apply to a face pad and rub everywhere until dry.

• The last thing we used on our 'pamper night' was the Max Factor Glossfinity Nail polish, in the pink ad purple. These are amazing quality at a very cheap price and both highly recommend them!!!



So that's what we did on our mini pamper night! We also filmed many fake YouTube videos for practise, that we may put on in a few years as a laugh, but until then, not a soul will see them;)

Hope you enjoyed, byee!!

TQ xo

Bright Eyes!

Most people, myself included, love our eyes to look big, bright and gorgeous. I have bright blue eyes with a small brown speck in ( i adore this speck, I've called it Samantha), and i don't think eyes look like eyes without ma.cara or a bit of eye shadow, because they just don't look as big and as beautiful as they could! I understand not all people have blue eyes, so when i had the idea of doing a post of what colour eye shadow to do, I felt like I couldn't write it because not all colors suit all eye colors, and I couldn't try out because unfortunately i haven't got 5 pairs of eyes. So i thought i would try and help everyone at the same time and try and combine everything to make everyone's eyes as beautiful as each others, so here are 7 ways to make your eyes look stunning!

1.      A beige eyeliner on bottom lash and a blue eyeliner on the top lash can make the sclera (the white part of your eyeball) look bigger, making your whole eye look alot wider. It also works amazing with peach or whatever other colour looks quite alot like beige. 

2.      Before applying mascara or eyeliner, curl your eyelashes. This automatically makes your eyes look much wider. And when applying mascara on your lower lash, be careful not to clump it all together because this can make eyes appear much smaller than they actually are.

3.      A shimmery and neutral shade on the top lid can brighten your eyes and the shimmer can make them look quite sparkly.

4.      Add a white eye shadow or eye pencil to the corners of your eye, and a tiny bit on your lower brow bone, and smudge. This can make your eyes pop (not literally pop, they're not balloons) and seem brighter naturally. 

5.      Shaping your eyebrows can help too. Bad eyebrows can take the focus off your newly brightened eyes, plus they look much nicer. This can take some time so take your time, you wouldn't want to go wrong. If all else fails, you can always find an eyebrow shaper/template (yes they do really exist!).

6.      Stick to lighter colours. Lighter colours are brighter than deep reds or blacks. 

7.      Finally, try winged eyeliner. I absolutely suck at eyeliner full stop, so this ones a nono for me. But for you talented people that rock this look, it makes your eyes look bigger, so go for it you eyeliner girls!

Let me know in the comments what you do to your eyes on a daily basis, and what you think of these tips, and i hope i helped!

TQ xo